Give me a break

[Isuzusweet]

Yes I spelt brake wrong in the title on purpose, as I often see brakes misspelt "breaks" all the time; so I thought I'd return the favour.

Okay, back to the reason of this thread. How many of you have found your TV brakes wanting? Poor braking, fading fast, slow to cool down and restore brake performance, easily warped rotors; the list goes on.

What if any brake mods or preventative maintenance have you done to your TV to increase brake performance?

I found this company with manufacturing in both Britain and the USA. They do not use recycled metal in their rotors and I have found them to last a very long time.

I don't recommend buying the drilled rotors as I've found them to be less than satisfactory, but I do recommend the slotted rotors with greenstuff pads.

https://ebcbrakes.com

I also change my brake fluid every two years to prevent moisture build up and boiling issues. Do you change your fluid every year, other year, or not at all.

Cheers
Tony

[ROBERT CROSS]

SSBC a local company here in WNY.

Vacuum/change & flush as needed.

Bob

[Wingeezer]

Mine are not disk brakes,but I did find that they did not seem very effective ever since we bought the trailer about three years old.

As a start I tried adjusting the shoes as a start. but the adjusters were seized up! As well, I saw some rather dodgy looking wiring splices to the magnets.

The shoes looked ok, but some of the wear indicators on the magnetswere pretty much gone.

After comparing prices, I decided that rather than changing components I would be better off to buy complete brake assemblies - backing pates wth shoes/magnets/springs/adjusters already installed, for only about $60 CAN installed. Very quick to change everything.

I installed these using soldered splices for the wires with weatherproof shrinktube insulating sleeves (Maybe I should have used weatherproof crimp connectors - I now have those, along wth the proper ratchet tool to install them correctly for any future issues on the road).

I made up a simple umbilical adapter that is easy to use between the truck and the trailer along with a DC clamp type ammeter to ensure that I am getting the proper current flow to the magnets if at any time anything seems questionable.

Braking is much better now, and I am better able to maintain the brakes (including adjusting) and to deal with any issues that might arise.

Joys of RV'ing eh?!

[Countryboy59]

Mine don't fade. I pass on the cheap rotors when doing brakes, and get good parts. Also buy rugged vehicles with big brakes.

[PaulnGina]

Originally Posted by Countryboy59

Mine don't fade. I pass on the cheap rotors when doing brakes, and get good parts. Also buy rugged vehicles with big brakes.

x2..... There is no substitution for quality parts and systems that are up to the task to begin with.

(I thought I was the only one bugged by "breaks"...... then there is "to, too, two", "there, their, they're", "through, threw"......)

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

Mine are not disk brakes,but I did find that they did not seem very effective ever since we bought the trailer about three years old.

As a start I tried adjusting the shoes as a start. but the adjusters were seized up! As well, I saw some rather dodgy looking wiring splices to the magnets.

The shoes looked ok, but some of the wear indicators on the magnetswere pretty much gone.

After comparing prices, I decided that rather than changing components I would be better off to buy complete brake assemblies - backing pates wth shoes/magnets/springs/adjusters already installed, for only about $60 CAN installed. Very quick to change everything.

I installed these using soldered splices for the wires with weatherproof shrinktube insulating sleeves (Maybe I should have used weatherproof crimp connectors - I now have those, along wth the proper ratchet tool to install them correctly for any future issues on the road).

I made up a simple umbilical adapter that is easy to use between the truck and the trailer along with a DC clamp type ammeter to ensure that I am getting the proper current flow to the magnets if at any time anything seems questionable.

Braking is much better now, and I am better able to maintain the brakes (including adjusting) and to deal with any issues that might arise.

Joys of RV'ing eh?!

Hey Brian;

Solder and Heat shrink is the absolute best way to connect your brake (break????)wires, as that method protects them from the road 'crap' and such. However............
When it's time to replace the magnets; you will need to cut the wires, and re-splice later. So................

What I did on my Hi-Lo was to remove the installed wire-nuts (Marettes), coat the twisted ends with Dow-Corning DC 3 Silicone grease, and re-install the nuts covers.
What this does, is to protect the twisted wire joint from corrosion caused by moisture and road salt, acting on the dissimilar metals.
Makes replacement just that much easier.
I never lost a wire nut, or connection.


My FC brakes are good, after only about 3-4,000 Km. on the rig. (that's a Swag)

Mel

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

Hey Brian;

. So................

What I did on my Hi-Lo was to remove the installed wire-nuts (Marettes), coat the twisted ends with Dow-Corning DC 3 Silicone grease, and re-install the nuts covers.
What this does, is to protect the twisted wire joint from corrosion caused by moisture and road salt, acting on the dissimilar metals.
Makes replacement just that much easier.
I never lost a wire nut, or connection.


My FC brakes are good, after only about 3-4,000 Km. on the rig. (that's a Swag)

Mel

^
X2

Stranded copper wire.....flexible. Solder connection on a flexible wire... not so flexible.

I have used both>>>

Marine crimp connectors with shrink wrap...


...and wire nuts, I twist the wires together, fill the wire nut with 3M 5200 Marine Sealant and twist on the wire nut.
9 years of submerging the lights on the boat trailer, 6 years on the brakes of the AS, both still good.

POI..... the 5200 comes in real handy in the AS 'tool kit'.

Bob

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

^
X2

Stranded copper wire.....flexible. Solder connection on a flexible wire... not so flexible.

I have used both>>>

Marine crimp connectors with shrink wrap...


...and wire nuts, I twist the wires together, fill the wire nut with 3M 5200 Marine Sealant and twist on the wire nut.
9 years of submerging the lights on the boat trailer, 6 years on the brakes of the AS, both still good.

POI..... the 5200 comes in real handy in the AS 'tool kit'.

Bob

Ooh!Nice.😆

[Paprika]

"Stranded copper wire.....flexible. Solder connection on a flexible wire... not so flexible."

Agreed. I was an electronics tech for years, and thought you couldn't do any better than soldered and heat0-shrunk. Then boating friends clued me in to ABYC (American Boat and Yacht Council) standards--the most authoritative advice I know of for wiring mobile vehicles. They recommend against soldered connections for just the reason RLC cited: vibration can cause solder joints to fail over time. Is it common? No. But I've seen it happen. And there is a better way:

"Marine crimp connectors with [built-in] shrink wrap"

Yup. That's what I now use wherever possible. The adhesive-lined heat shrink wrap on the connector gives gas-tight, watertight connections, and flexing/vibration won't cause a connection failure, because there is no brittle solder joint.